39: Chapter 39 The Lamp of Immortality

When the longevity lamp was wheeled out, the auction hall suddenly went quiet.

It was an ancient bronze lamp; the lamp body was not large, but it was placed on a three-tiered black wood stand.

The lamp walls were engraved with fine, dense patterns that looked like vines, or perhaps veins.

What was most unsettling was the wick; it was neither cotton thread nor oil rope, but a withered, darkened thin tube coiled in the center of the lamp, like an insect that had been dead for a long time.

The host did not introduce it immediately.

He first had the attendants extinguish half the lights, then spoke in a tone that was almost a sigh.

"The most expensive things in the world are not gold, silver, or power."

"It is time."

Many people in the audience sat up straight.

The host said that this lamp was once known as the Life-Extending Lamp; if a critically ill person lit it, they could hold onto their life for a little longer, and if a failing Family offered it light for three nights, they could turn danger into safety.

He did not promise eternal life, yet he placed words like "prolonging life," "diverting disaster," and "Family prosperity" in the most tempting positions.

Before the bidding had even begun, some people's breathing had already grown heavy.

Tang Zhiwei sat in a seat near the front, watching the changes in the eyes of those wealthy individuals, her fingertips turning slightly cold.

What rich people fear most is not a lack of money.

It is that money cannot buy life.

Zhou Yan's data alert was quickly transmitted to the mission channel.

[Local Gazetteer fragment correspondence: The longevity lamp does not extend life, but transfers it. It is suspected of extracting life status from surrounding living people and transferring it to the person who lights the lamp or the person bound to it.]

After seeing this alert in the Safe House, Xu Minglan immediately rearranged the purification stickers, isolation boxes, and fluid replacement supplies.

She knew that if the judgment held, ordinary first aid could only maintain vital signs and could not resolve the actual extraction.

Shen Qinghe's Mark of the Torch continued to heat up.

Through Spirit Vision, she saw circles of dark cyan lines lurking within the lamp walls; when not yet lit, those lines shrank deep into the patterns like insect antennae.

Every time someone in the audience raised a paddle, the lamp wall would light up slightly, as if it were memorizing the bidder's aura in advance.

She immediately submitted her judgment.

[Bidding is suspected to be a prerequisite for binding.]

[Individuals with high greed or high fear are more easily locked onto by the longevity lamp.]

Tang Zhiwei received the alert and immediately interrupted the rhythm of the bidding.

She did not call a halt, nor did she mention anything abnormal; she simply used a tone that the wealthy circles understood, casually asking a few questions about its origin, custody records, and the whereabouts of its previous owner.

She also mentioned two failed antique collection accidents; her voice was not loud, but it was enough to make several people nearby, who had originally been eager to try, hesitate.

An old man glanced at her coldly.

"Is Young Miss Tang afraid?"

Tang Zhiwei smiled: "I just like to check the accounts before buying things."

Bai Ya, listening from the periphery, almost laughed out loud but forcibly held it back.

He looked toward the second-floor private box.

The Lamp Watcher was not in a hurry to have his own people bid; it was more like he was waiting to see which buyer would be ensnared by desire first.

"The buyer may not necessarily be a buyer." Bai Ya submitted his judgment to the Grey Net, "They might be a temporary lamp base."

Zhao Ye said in a low voice: "We cannot let it be lit."

Shen Qinghe glanced around.

Ordinary wealthy people, antique dealers, bodyguards, attendants, hidden observers, and suspected official personnel were all crowded into the underground exhibition hall.

If they forced an intervention now, as long as the Lamp Watcher triggered chaos, the casualties would spread faster than the lamp itself.

"It's too late," she said.

The host had already taken out an antique that looked like a fire starter.

The moment the dark red flame landed on the wick, a dark cyan flame rose silently.

The air in the auction hall felt as if a layer had been sucked away.

The complexions of the few elderly wealthy people closest to the longevity lamp visibly flushed with color.

An old man who had originally needed a cane suddenly sat up straight, his eyes brightened, and the veins on the back of his hands seemed to have faded slightly.

At the same time, the young attendant standing by the stage turned pale rapidly, his lips turned blue, and mottled dark spots appeared on the back of his hands.

Some people thought this was a performance.

It wasn't until a bodyguard swayed and fell to his knees, with streaks of white appearing in his black hair, that the chaos truly began.

Shen Qinghe forced herself to activate Spirit Vision.

She saw strips of dark cyan life-lines being extracted from the staff, young bodyguards, and guests near the display case, flowing into the longevity lamp, and then surging back into the few buyers who had been locked onto by the lamp's fire first.

[longevity lamp contamination rule: Transfer of life status.]

[Core suspected to be the wick.]

[Evacuation of ordinary people is the priority.]

At the same time as the judgment was submitted, Zhao Ye had already moved.

He did not rush toward the longevity lamp, but instead moved to block two bodyguards who had lost control after being affected by the lamp's fire.

The basic evil-breaking short staff unfolded in his palm, with Torch patterns pressed onto the staff body.

He struck the opponent's shoulder with the staff; it did not break any bones, but it shook off a section of the dark cyan thin lines wrapped around the opponent.

Shen Qinghe took the opportunity to stick a low-tier sealing strip onto a nearby old wooden shelf, temporarily suppressing a corner of the remnant marks.

Bai Ya tried to track the observation lines behind the lamp fire; just as the outer permissions of the Grey Net unfolded, they were recoiled by the old leather book in the second-floor private box.

He groaned, the grey lines before his eyes becoming a tangled mess, but he still gritted his teeth and submitted the location of the Lamp Watcher.

Tang Zhiwei finally stopped maintaining a stance of mere observation.

She stood up, her voice carrying over half the venue.

"A security incident has occurred in the underground exhibition hall; everyone, please evacuate immediately according to the exit signs. Bodyguards, take your people and leave. If you don't want to die, do not touch that lamp."

Some wealthy individuals recognized her and hesitated for a moment.

It was precisely this moment that allowed her to use her real-world status to mobilize the crowd.

Several people who had been panicked began to follow her and move outward.

On the periphery, Lin Zhao received the evacuation request and immediately opened the safety passage.

He did not have an Ability Seed, but he did have the standard Apprentice coat and temporary sealing tools.

While assisting those escaping, he used the Xin Huo Interface to synchronize the number of wounded to Xu Minglan.

When Xu Minglan received the first casualty, her heart sank.

The young attendant had no external injuries, but it was as if he had been drained overnight.

His pupil response was sluggish, his body temperature dropped, yet his skin exhibited the looseness of an old man.

The low-tier purification sticker could only stop the dark cyan spots from spreading; it could not return the extracted life status.

The authorities were also dragged in at this moment.

Gu Xingzhou stood guard on the periphery with two observers.

They had originally only been monitoring the illegal auction, but they saw with their own eyes young people aging, saw Torch sealing strips suppressing anomalies, and saw people with glowing marks on their wrists acting in an orderly manner amidst the chaos.

One of his colleagues instinctively wanted to rush in to control the scene, but was held back by Gu Xingzhou.

"Do not go near that lamp," Gu Xingzhou said in a low voice, "Save people first."

In the second-floor private box, the Lamp Watcher finally smiled.

"It's not enough."

He pressed his hand onto the old leather book.

The longevity lamp's dark cyan flames suddenly shot up.

The auction hall entrance was sealed off by the fire, and more life-lines were forcibly extracted.

A bit of blood seeped from the corner of Shen Qinghe's eye, Zhao Ye was forced back half a step by two bodyguards who had lost control due to contamination, and Bai Ya's Grey Net record was almost torn apart in reverse.

The crowd behind Tang Zhiwei retreated, crying and screaming.

The Grey Net alert lit up simultaneously in the Xin Huo Interface of all relevant members.

[Contamination Rank adjusted upward.]

[Current member permissions are insufficient to complete sealing.]

[Recommendation: Initiate Fire Keeper contingency plan.]

Shen Qinghe looked up at the lamp and finally understood what Zhou Yan meant by "The lamp does not burn oil; it burns life."

It was not burning.

It was feeding.